Ryan Giggs: Gareth Bale 'Still Loves Football' Amid Real Madrid Exit Rumours

Wales manager Ryan Giggs has taken aim at Real Madrid fans for their treatment of Gareth Bale and rubbished the idea the winger has fallen out of love with football. 

Bale, 29, looks headed for the exit at the Santiago Bernabeu this summer after manager Zinedine Zidane left him out the side for Real's last three games of the 2018-19 La Liga season:

He failed to make the step up into the starring role at Real vacated by Cristiano Ronaldo and continued to receive flak from Real's fans.

The former Tottenham Hotspur star also came in for criticism from some of his team-mates, who accused him of failing to adapt to life in Spain and being overly interested in golf.

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As far as Giggs is concerned, though, Bale is as driven as ever as Wales prepare for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Croatia and Hungary, per Phil Blanche of the Press Association (h/t MailOnline):

"He was sharp, he wanted the ball, and he was practising his trademark of cutting in on his left foot. He scored a great goal. Afterwards when a lot of the lads went in he was practising his shooting, so that doesn't strike me as someone who just wants to get off and go back to his room. It struck me as a professional who still loves football."

When asked whether he was surprised by the criticism of Bale from Real fans, Manchester United legend Giggs added:

"Yes, but I'm not over there. I'm not a Real Madrid fan. I don't know the ins and outs and I'm only looking from the outside. But you've got a player who won the team the UEFA Champions League final last year with one of the best goals you've ever seen and performs for that team week in, week out.

"I remember the original Ronaldo getting stick off Real Madrid fans. I remember Cristiano getting stick early doors. It's that kind of club. It's a club like no other where the white handkerchiefs come out if they don't like you. That's just the way it is."

Bale has been at Real for six seasons. On paper, he has enjoyed remarkable success, scoring more than 100 goals and winning 13 major honours:

Among those are four UEFA Champions League triumphs, and he played a key role in all four campaigns.

Most notably, he came off the bench in last season's final against Liverpool and scored the two goals that won Real the match, with the first a remarkable overhead kick:

Even that performance has somehow failed to win over Real's fans. And perhaps most crucially, it has failed to win over Zidane.

Bale came off the bench in the final last season because he had lost his starting spot under the Frenchman.

When Zidane resigned soon after Real's third consecutive European triumph, it looked as though Bale may have an opportunity to get back in the starting XI, especially when Ronaldo also departed.

However, with Zidane back at the helm and Bale consigned to the bench again, the Wales international's Real future looks uncertain at best.